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She pulled another long thick black hair from her chin.
This was very concerning for Lily Evans, who had never had to pluck a hair from her face ever before.
Why now? What had changed?
Several months on (and many more hairs pulled from her chin), Lily Evans realised her nails were thicker and longer than ever. They were also sharp.
She sighed. Another odd thing. She still hadn’t quite decided whether this was a long-term prank or not despite the Marauders denying it vehemently. There couldn’t possibly be any other reason for the chin hairs or the nails… Right…
Her flat smelt of gingerbread. It had become something of a craving recently. But more concernedly for Lily Evans was the frizzy, matted mess that used to be her hair.
Maybe it was time to consider there was something wrong, and that this was not an elaborate prank of some sort…
But who to ask…
Fabian Prewett was a well-known and well-respected healer at St Mungo Hospital. He was one of the rising stars of the next generation of healers.
But…
He had always liked a good joke.
So, he wasn’t overly surprised when Lily Evans entered his consulting rooms. He had heard James and Sirius whispering about giving Lily Evans ‘Hag’s Disease’ so she would realise that her one true love was James.
Fabian Prewett had other ideas about that.
Apart from the fact that purposedly giving Lily Evans Hag’s Disease was morally wrong and Fabian Prewett was oath-bound to ensure the treatment of the disease, he was hoping to capitalise on it himself.
“Well,” Lily Evans said to herself upon leaving the hospital, “This rather does throw a spanner in the works, doesn’t it?”
Fabian Prewett had been able to diagnose her – Hag’s Disease. A virus that turns young wixen women into a hag. She had all the classic signs: chin hair, sweet tooth, and nails turning into claws. Lily Evans had even noticed her voice becoming raspier. The good news was that Hag’s Disease didn’t affect magic, and Lily Evans was still a competent wixen with a wand. Also, her skills with potions have gotten better since contracting the disease, so that was a bonus.
She supposed she should start preparing how to alleviate herself from this disease though…
Fabian Prewett waited two weeks and then went to find Lily Evans. He wanted to be the one to stop the disease. And he knew that he would have to beat James Potter there to do so. The only way that Hag’s Disease could be treated was by the inflicted accepting the love of a good man.
So, Fabian Prewett started his search for the Hag Cottage Lily Evans would have built. He started with forests closest to Lily Evan’s flat. Then he moved outwards, checking every forest marked on his maps of the UK and Scotland.
It took Fabian Prewett several days, but finally, he stood in front of a gingerbread house. No… He looked harder at the confection-laden structure. It was more of a large cottage. Multiple floors high, icing detailing around all the windows, a wixen’s garden planted around it, the porch overlooking it with a swing seat…
Oh dear.
Fabian Prewett’s shoulders dropped, and he sighed, berating himself. Well, at least he didn’t end up losing to James Potter. And the flowers he had shouldn’t go to waste either.
Squaring his shoulders, Fabian Prewett marched up to the front door – a hard toffee-coloured gingerbread from the looks of it, with the appearance of stained glass (melted sugar lollies perhaps?) in the centre. He was awed – this level of detail was usually not done by those affected by Hag’s Disease, but it seemed that Lily Evans had embraced it.
Instead of knocking, Fabian Prewett placed the bouquet next to the door. He took a moment to scrawl a note and attached it with a sticking charm.
Well – there were plenty of other beautiful women in the world even if Lily Evans was one of the shining stars.
As Fabian Prewett followed the path back out of the woods, he smirked every time he came across another man holding flowers and heading toward Lily Evans’s cottage. He would let them figure it out for themselves.
Several days later Fabian Prewett had the joy of seeing an advertisement in the Daily Prophet: “Want to learn how to be free from men and build yourself an amazing (and delicious) home – contact Lily Evans from Embrace Your Hagginess.”